Li Mai shook her head. "I'm healthy now, there's no need for that. It would be a waste for me to drink it. I'll help you get your bodies in order first."

Zhou Quan was touched, took her hand, and whispered a thank you.

Li Mai smiled and said, "We are husband and wife, so there's no need for such formalities as thanking you. It would only make us a laughingstock. As long as you get better, that's the happiest thing for our whole family."

Looking at her bright smile, Zhou Quan's heart trembled. He tightened his grip on her hand and nodded solemnly, "Okay, as for how to cooperate, I'll say it again: I will fully cooperate with you."

"Sweetie, now that you can feel your legs again and stand up quickly, we might not need the wheelchair anymore. We'll just prepare a cane for you," Li Mai said with a smile.

"Should we ask Xiaolin to tell his master to stop?" Zhou Quan asked seriously.

“It’s alright, go ahead and do it. Even if you can stand up, you can’t walk for long periods of time. You’ll have to sit down after standing for a while. You can exercise slowly. You’ll still be able to use the wheelchair. Besides, don’t worry, we can use that thing. In the future, when our parents get old and can’t walk anymore, we can push them out to see the scenery instead of keeping them cooped up in the house all day.” Li Mai knew he was worried about the money and comforted him.

“Okay, if you say it’s useful, then let’s do it!” Zhou Quan nodded.

Li Mai looked at her hand, which he was still holding, and looked up at him helplessly. "Zhou Dalang, can my hand give you energy and fill your stomach?"

Zhou Quan was startled and looked down, instantly releasing her hand. His face flushed red, and he coughed lightly, quickly explaining, "No, Xiaomai, I didn't mean to take advantage of you, I just forgot to let go. I'm sorry, I..."

Looking at his embarrassed, awkward, and shy appearance, Li Mai was suddenly touched. This pure and lovely man seemed to be her husband!

To prevent him from saying anything that would embarrass him further in his panic, Li Mai smiled and said, "You lie down and rest for a while. Move the table over and put it in the middle. I'll go get the rice. We'll eat together indoors today."

"Okay!" Zhou Quan replied, and quickly went to tidy up the books on the table and moved the kang table to the middle of the kang.

Li Mai went over to the main house and saw that Zhou Lin had already returned and was looking at his clothes.

Upon seeing Li Mai approach, Zhou Lin bowed respectfully to her, saying, "Thank you, sister-in-law, for buying me new clothes."

Li Mai smiled and said, "No need to be polite. I've bought two sets for each of us in the family."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work, sister-in-law!" Zhou Lin was very respectful to Li Mai, speaking very politely.

Li Mai smiled and looked at Zhao Shi, "Mother, is it time to eat?"

"Eat up, Mom made some steamed buns for dinner. Do you two want to eat over there or over here?"

“Let’s go over there, so he won’t have to go through all that trouble. He said today that it hurts a little when he pinches his leg. I think it’s because the medicinal bath he took last night was effective. We’ll give him another bath tonight, and the medicine I brought back today can be decocted tomorrow morning.”

"Okay, then I'll go get you some steamed buns. You go get a small bowl to scoop out the porridge. I also cooked red bean porridge." Upon hearing this good news, Zhao happily took Li Mai's hand and walked outside.

"Okay, I forgot to buy sugar today. Do we have any sugar at home? My husband seems to like sweets." Li Mai said softly with a smile.

Zhao was surprised. "Huh? This boy likes sweets?" How come she didn't know that before?

Li Mai nodded. "It seems so."

"There's still a little bit left. You two can scoop some more into the porridge later. Zhuzhu likes sweets too, so I'll put some in for her as well." Zhao chuckled as the two of them went into the kitchen to prepare the food.

"By the way, Xiaomai, your Aunt Wangcai came over this afternoon and told me that Zhou Chun's wife, Pan, has returned, and it seems she brought her sister back with her."

"I heard that Zhou Chun was locked in the ancestral hall and forced to kneel as punishment. That Pan woman even went to plead with the clan chief on his behalf, but the clan chief scolded her and said that if she went to plead again, she would also be punished to kneel in the ancestral hall with Zhou Chun. As soon as Pan woman heard this, she turned around and ran away, afraid that if she was too slow, she would be punished to kneel in the ancestral hall with Zhou Chun." Zhao woman said, laughing so hard she was shaking.

Li Mai smiled too, but then she became suspicious when she thought about how Pan had brought her sister back. "Mother, did Pan bring her sister back because she heard that our family had made a fortune thanks to our ancestors' blessings, and she's still thinking about Xiao Lin's marriage?"

Zhao was smiling when she heard Li Mai's words and was stunned. Her smile vanished instantly, and she said in disbelief, "No way? I scolded her so badly that day, how could she still have such thoughts?"

“People die for money, birds die for food, Mother, you never know. We still have to be careful,” Li Mai reminded her.

"How do we defend against it?" Zhao asked Li Mai quickly. Now she was very willing to listen to her daughter-in-law, as she felt that her daughter-in-law was both capable and smart.

“I think that given the current situation where she is at odds with us, if Madam Pan still intends to marry her sister to Xiao Lin, then she will probably use one of three methods,” Li Mai said in a low voice.

"Which three?" Zhao asked hurriedly.

"The first method is to arrange a chance encounter between her sister and Xiaolin, so that Xiaolin and her sister can meet, and then make the whole village aware of it. That way, whatever rumors they spread outside, we will have no way to defend ourselves. Even if Xiaolin says that she has nothing to do with her sister, it will be unclear, and it will also damage Xiaolin's reputation."

"The second method is to bribe villagers who are familiar with Xiaolin, perhaps people Xiaolin trusts, to invite Xiaolin out for drinks, and the result is to set up a match between her sister and Xiaolin."

"The third option is quite straightforward: find an opportunity to drug Xiaolin and force her to have sex with her sister. At that point, we'll have no choice but to marry her."

After hearing this, Zhao realized that these three things were indeed possible.

She became anxious. "Xiaomai, what should we do?"

"There is a very effective way to deal with these three: let Xiaolin stay with his master starting tomorrow, reduce the number of times he enters and leaves the village, and prevent them from having a chance to harm Xiaolin."

"Of course, this is only a temporary solution. We also need to find a suitable marriage for Xiaolin as soon as possible and get the engagement settled. Once we build a new house next year, we can help Xiaolin get married," Li Mai said softly.

Zhao nodded, "Okay, I understand. I'll tell Xiaolin tonight."

Li Mai nodded, and the mother and daughter brought out the food, only to find Zhou Lin standing outside the kitchen, looking embarrassed.

Li Mai smiled. "Did you hear that? If you did, it saves Mother from having to say it again."

"I heard you, thank you, sister-in-law. I'll leave the house to you these next few days. Once the wheelchair is ready, I'll bring it back with me." Zhou Lin bowed to Li Mai again.

Li Mai nodded. "Don't worry about home. The most important thing is to protect yourself and not let those scheming people take advantage of you and ruin your life. If you meet a girl you like, you can tell me and Mom. If she's a good person, we can help you ask her out and get engaged as soon as possible."

Zhou Lin nodded, "Okay, I'll tell my sister-in-law if I meet a girl I like."

Li Mai glanced at Zhou Lin's appearance, which was no less than Zhou Quan's, and shook her head with a helpless smile. Having such good-looking children in the family was also a burden.